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ARC Review--Passenger by Alexandra Bracken

passage, n.i. A brief section of music composed of a series of notes and flourishes.ii. A journey by water; a voyage.iii. The transition from one place to another, across space and time.

In
one devastating night, violin prodigy Etta Spencer loses everything she
knows and loves. Thrust into an unfamiliar world by a stranger with a
dangerous agenda, Etta is certain of only one thing: she has traveled
not just miles but years from home. And she’s inherited a legacy she
knows nothing about from a family whose existence she’s never heard of.
Until now.

Nicholas Carter is content with his life at sea, free
from the Ironwoods—a powerful family in the colonies—and the servitude
he’s known at their hands. But with the arrival of an unusual passenger
on his ship comes the insistent pull of the past that he can’t escape
and the family that won’t let him go so easily. Now the Ironwoods are
searching for a stolen object of untold value, one they believe only
Etta, Nicholas’ passenger, can find. In order to protect her, he must
ensure she brings it back to them— whether she wants to or not.

Together,
Etta and Nicholas embark on a perilous journey across centuries and
continents, piecing together clues left behind by the traveler who will
do anything to keep the object out of the Ironwoods’ grasp. But as they
get closer to the truth of their search, and the deadly game the
Ironwoods are play­ing, treacherous forces threaten to sep­arate Etta
not only from Nicholas but from her path home . . . forever.

I received this ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. I was in no way compensated for this review.

Alexandra Bracken’s
Passenger is quite the tale of time-traveling filled with
adventure, and yes, romance. This is my first Bracken book and I went in
with a few reservations, but overall,
Passenger was a pretty interesting read.

Etta
is basically a prodigy. She was raised by her mother, had the best
education, is extraordinarily talented with the violin where takes place
in many competitions and will
be having her debut in just a few short weeks. It’s when she goes to
another performance just weeks before, that the chaos strikes.

She
is suddenly transported back in time and off to meet the man in charge.
Taking her and the girl who brought her, Sophia, is Nicholas. He’s a
fairly young captain of the
ship but dreams of running his own ship instead of one ruled by
Ironwood, the family he’s regrettably apart of and who’s basically in
charge.

The
excitement truly begins when Etta is forced to find a magical object
that will allow one to time travel back to any point with no rules, and
as you’ll learn there are
quite a few rules when it comes to time-traveling.

The
book was a little hard for me to get into right away. Time-traveling
books can be hit or miss especially when it comes to the explaining of
said time-traveling. In
Passenger however, it wasn’t too complicated, but a few details
were a little muddy for me, but those were kind of explained as you went
along but it kind of made it confusing in the beginning.

I
just felt like the pacing was a little too slow at times. There was
definitely a sense of excitement, as Etta is given a timeline as to when
she must return the magical
object to Ironwood. That definitely adds some tension and danger, it
was just the way she went about doing her time-traveling jumps that
dragged. Joining her on this journey is Nicholas. And right away, you
know these two are meant for one another.

I
must commend Bracken on the interracial romance though! It’s rare to
see that these days and I must say I enjoyed it! Nicholas was quite the
character. He comes off a bit
cold and prickly in the beginning, but he grows on you and naturally
you learn to see he is full of heart.

I’d
say things started picking up for me around the halfway point, or there
about. The excitement became greater as Etta and Nicholas hurry along
on their quest being chased
by other bad guys and such. And then that ending! Wow! Wasn’t expecting
something like that! It’s kind of cliffhanger-y just so you know, but I
would rate it as an exciting cliffhanger. One that leaves you jumping
in your seat for the next book versus shouting
profanities at the sky (not that I do that or anything!).

Overall,
Passenger was a read that definitely amps up the excitement and
enjoyment as you read further along. I will definitely want to continue
this series, however long it ends up being because I am anxious to know
what will happen to our characters!

11 comments:

I'm glad that you enjoyed this one. I unfortunately could not really get into the slow-pacing, and I just couldn't connect to the characters. Perhaps I will pick this one up again in time. Wonderful review though.

I've been hearing about this book a lot and it sounded fantastic. The only thing that held me back is because I was worried about the hype, but glad that it delivered for you. I might have to check it out :)

It sounds like a good one. I'm with you on the time traveling. I really need it to be explained well and for the rules to make sense. Glad that all the rules got ironed out over time. I do want to read this one. Great review!

I'm really looking forward to reading this book! I've heard so many good things about it so I hope this doesn't disappoint me! Sucks it was a slow start for you, I feel like it might be for me too since I'm not really big on YA fantasy, but we shall see! Great review, Jessica!